So today was the launch of the manned Crew Dragon capsule aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
So of course I thought, "Where can I find a model?"
Well, SpaceX sells one… for $140 USD!!! Uhm, nice, but no.
Hey, maybe Lego has one! Great for kids and adults who love space exploration!
Nope. They have discontinued Saturn V, and some Space Shuttle models (even the ISS) but no Falcon 9 or Crew Dragon.
Well then, surely a model rocket company would license this-- it's not a hard design-- a few standard parts and some nice wrap around decals-- easy peasy…
And nope to that either.
WTH?
The first American space launch in a decade, 10 million people watching live in the US alone, and nobody at either Estes or Lego was smart enough to see this coming and make a license with SpaceX?!? Even if the license was exorbitant, the things would be marketing gold, introducing kids left and right to model building and whole lines of products. Who DIDN'T realize this was money in the bank?
Heck, Lego could come up with a design out of standard parts; they hire people whose only job is to figure out how to build ANYTHING out of components they already have. They didn't have anyone who could figure out how to make a cylinder with fins out of black and white parts? Get a quick design job on a package, put together an instruction set, and go!
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???
Or rather
HOW WERE THEY NOT THINKING?!?
Ah well. Maybe it will happen by Christmas.
And yes, I could probably design something myself from scratch. But I'm also not an 8-year-old with a newfound passion for space exploration.
experiments with 3Dprinting tiles.
